The platform through which natural persons can legally hire and pay staff who carry out occasional activities in the household, such as housekeepers, nannies or gardeners, is doomed to failure because Romanians do not want to pay taxes to the state.
In two weeks since the tichete.anofm.ro platform was officially put into use, only 266 tickets were bought, the equivalent of almost 4,000 lei, although more than 560 people are registered who can hire someone for household activities
The law according to which nannies, housekeepers, gardeners or people hired to walk dogs or any other person who will perform household activities are “paid” with work vouchers is in force, but it is not very successful in the market.
It is about the tichete.anofm.ro platform, on which both the beneficiaries and those who offer their labor must register. The authorities thus want to reduce the number of those who work illegally, but the approach did not have a response. According to official data, only 266 tickets, equivalent to almost 4,000 lei, were bought in two weeks, on the official platform tichete.anofm.ro., although more than 560 people are registered who can hire someone for household activities. At the same time, official data show that they are not willing to work legally, although there are workers available for domestic work on social networks or ad platforms.
The market is in the black
An operator in the babysitting market told “Adevărul” that the offer of work vouchers is doomed to failure for several reasons. “First of all, we are talking about a “black” market. Almost no one hires on the babysitting market full-time, but especially part-time with proper documents. There are taxes to be paid by everyone, the employer, but also the provider. So basically, in the first phase everyone loses. As a result, it is better for everyone that the transaction is untaxed. Then, in babysitting, at least, but also in caring for elderly people, we have another problem, that of authorizations. They mean preparation and more and cost, and the ladies who usually provide such services are not ready to waste time and take money out of their pocket. As a result, they prefer informal employment,” the source from the market stated for “Adevărul”.
We remind you that the beneficiaries of household activities can buy tickets from the County Employment Agencies or through the electronic platform. The value of a ticket is 15 lei and with these tickets they pay the chosen provider, according to the amount they agreed on. And the one who receives the vouchers also asks for the money from the Employment Agency. However, approximately 20% of the obtained amount is withheld for health insurance and pension, with one condition. They must exchange at least 85 tickets for money in a single month, that is around 1,230 lei. “The provider and the beneficiary agree on the number of hours worked, on the activities that the provider must carry out and, of course, on the payment that the domestic provider will receive”, explained Corina Scarlat, ANOFM spokesperson.
But people are not willing to lose money to contribute to the state and prefer to continue working in the dark. The latest European Commission report shows that, in Romania, 1.4 million people work without contracts.
“It is possible that some may try to circumvent the system in this way. So to use the system for its capabilities exclusively for the database and then obviously conclude a black deal with the persons concerned”, also shows Sorin Faur, human resources specialist. Most people registered on the platform are between the ages of 40 and 50.
European money
At the request of “Adevărul”, the Ministry of Labor recently made a series of clarifications regarding the application of the domestic provider law, announcing that the computer system, equipment, training of the ANOFM staff cost 17.227 million lei and was co-financed from the PNRR.
“For the implementation of Law no. 111/2022 regarding the regulation of the activity of the domestic provider according to art. 13, Contract no. 1370/15-09-2023 regarding the purchase of “Integrated system implementation services” (development and implementation services of the IT solution, including the supply of equipment, basic software and training) in the amount of 17,227,213.50 lei, including VAT , and in the period 27-29.12.2023 the training of the staff of the National Employment Agency for the use and administration of the system took place”, informed the Ministry of Labor at the request of “Adevărul”.
The project is co-financed from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, component 13 Social Reforms, milestone 397, Investment 3 regarding the commissioning of a digital ticket management platform for domestic workers.
Working schedule of maximum 12 hours per day
The normative act provides that the household provider must be 16 years old and not be a member of the household beneficiary's family, as defined in art. 2 of Law no. 416/2001 on the guaranteed minimum income, with subsequent amendments and additions.
The law also provides that a legal relationship is established between the household provider and the household beneficiary through the agreement of the parties for the provision of household activities, without having a written form.
The two parties agree on the place where the domestic activity will be carried out (in the beneficiary's household, at the provider's residence or in another place), the activities to be performed and the number of hours or the workload.
The daily workload cannot exceed 12 hours for an adult and 6 hours for providers between the ages of 16 and 18.
